Ricky Hatton ,the most popular sportsman ever ?

[Big Dick Whittington]

how popular would Hatton have been if he had fought on ItV or BBC1 ?

I feel blessed to have enjoyed his trip to the top I never mind paying through the nose to watch him fight on TV or live !

His humility set him apart.

Only thing now is Ricky Hatton to replace that mumbling bumbling cunt Michael Parkinson as the premier chat show host
They're handing out chat shows to the likes of Jordan and Sharon Osbourne and they're about as funny as Colonic herpies.

[DaxxKahn]

Ricky is Far Far Far Far Far Far Far away from being the most popular sportsman ever. Even if he was the most Famous figure out of the UK ever he would still pale to Ali.

Who is the most poular figure to ever grace any sport in history

[Mark TKO]

Big Frank was pretty popular across whole UK.

He never had the fanbase that Hatton did for fights in Vegas but I reckon he was universally more popular.

I think its probably that deep down even though we loved him we all knew he was shite

...which is probably why no one ever went to Vegas to see him

[Saddo]

Big Frank was pretty popular across whole UK.

He never had the fanbase that Hatton did for fights in Vegas but I reckon he was universally more popular.

I think its probably that deep down even though we loved him we all knew he was shite

...which is probably why no one ever went to Vegas to see him

he had a massive following when he went over to fight Tyson the second time.

educated Don King bigtime on the money and crowds he pulled over there... not sure of the numbers but there was more than tyson had on that night and they all sung....


theres only one frank bruno... one frank bruno, walking along singing a song walking in a bruno wonderland.

i think they thought the english where mad when they first heard the UK fans singing that song... bruno went on the get sparked out by tyson early so maybe that song is jinxed

[Kirkland Laing]

Carl Fogerty holds the record for biggest number of Brits abroad to watch an individual sportsman, I forget how many but over 100 000. He rides a motorbike apparently, or at least used to. The average Brit would only be dimly aware of him, same with Hatton. Hatton is popular among a subsection of sports fans, is recognisable to a larger chunk of the overall population, that's it.

[JazMerkin]

He's nowhere near the most popular sportsman ever. Maybe the most popular British boxer ever, but that's as far as I would go. I think the most popular sportsman ever would be between Ali, Maradona, Pele & Sachin Tendulkar (if you don't believe me go to India). Ali probably gets it for a worldwide following although it is largely motivated by what he did outside the ring.

[Kel]

I think he is just as well known as guys like Mike Tyson, Ayrton Senna, Tiger Woods, Michael Jordan etc

[HattonTheHammer]

he`s not even the most popular british sports star at present.

Im pretty sure David Beckham outnumbers hatton a good 10-1 in terms of publicity, press attention etc

Hattons been loved over the years because he has managed to mantain his working class routes and never felt the need to follow suit of those prior to him by badmouthing opponents etc.

He`s certainly the most popular boxer we have right now....dont know about sportsman though

[Mark TKO]

Had no idea that Bruno took so many to Vegas for his second Tyson showdown.

Talking of that I wanted to watch Bruno Tyson I and listen to Harry Carpenter's overexcited commentary when Frank tags him owards the end of the first Always makes me smile.

Couldn't find it on youtube though - only american commentaries.

If anyone has a link would be most grateful

cheers

[Dark Lord Al]

how popular would Hatton have been if he had fought on ItV or BBC1 ?

I feel blessed to have enjoyed his trip to the top I never mind paying through the nose to watch him fight on TV or live !

His humility set him apart.

Only thing now is Ricky Hatton to replace that mumbling bumbling cunt Michael Parkinson as the premier chat show host
They're handing out chat shows to the likes of Jordan and Sharon Osbourne and they're about as funny as Colonic herpies.

One of the most popular , i would put Gavin Rees above Ricky on fan base and over all achievements

[RP33]

I think he is just as well known as guys like Mike Tyson, Ayrton Senna, Tiger Woods, Michael Jordan etc

Not even close.. Maybe in the UK he is, but to say the most popular ever, i assume we're including the rest of the earth.. and there are plenty, PLENTY people who don't know who ricky hatton is in the US.. and i'm not even talking about older generations of sports fans, i'm saying various generations.. the mayweather/hatton fight helped him because it exposed him quite a bit more, but no bars here ever show PPV's or HBO/Showtime boxing so forget it..

tiger woods and michael jordan are popular obviously because of their sports, but also because of their commercial spots and prime time TV spots.. when you see one of their faces in a commercial, you know who it is.. if it was Hatton, forget it, maybe one person in a room of 8 people would know who it was.

[Dizaster]

I'd find it hard to believe Hatton would be even the most popular sportsman in Britain, right now.. Let alone ever... Let alone for the rest of the world ever...

Jordan is always up there for me.. He was so well known all over the world. Never a bad word spoken about it. Excelled and dominated in one of the most popular sports in the world at the time. Was the highest paid. Was liked by everyone including everyone he competed against... He was the definition of "popular"...

Tiger woods is well known and totally dominates his sport etc..

But in the end, it's golf!! Jordan still tops it for me, period...

[Tysonbruno]

Not the most popular sportsman ever No! Tyson or Ali could take that as there known and have fans all around the world and at one point Tyson was one of the top5 most know people in the world. But as for Ricky and his fan base well that massive taking 25,000 to Vegas Bruno only took 4,000-5,000 for the 2nd Tyson fight Also Oscar De La Hoya is right up their.

[Dr. Steelhammer]

Maybe in western europe and northern america. But not worldwide.

[OumaFan]

Hatton is not big at all in America.Not at all.

For a boxer, yeah he's relatively big. For a general sportsman, not at all There are women's basketball players that are bigger here than Hatton. No offense women's basketball players.